Starships
by Lynn Die Drachen Krieger
Summary: 'Chloe looked at him. "Do you think that… you could let my drive sometime..?"Joker raised his eyebrow. "What? You… want to 'drive'… The ship?"' It was always Chloe's dream to be a pilot. And now is seems like she's falling for the helmsman of the Normandy... JokerXOC
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note- **This is my first Mass Effect story! Please leave some reviews and tell me what you think!

* * *

**Chapter 1**

"Commander," Joker greeted as Shepard reached to bridge. "What, can I do for you?"

Shepard hesitated a bit, as if he were rethinking an important decision. "Joker…do you think we have time to make an unscheduled stop?" He asked, secretly pleading that they didn't have to time, or had an urgent mission, or any other excuse.

"Sure Commander, where to?"

"Illium," Shepard responded with a sigh. "I have some business there."

Joker nodded. "Okay, punching in the coordinates. So, uh… what kind of business? If you don't mind me asking."

Shepard leaned on the wall. "Family," He groaned. "My motheris there, and she's _insisting _that I… _visit._"

"Senior Officer, Marissa Shepard wishes to meet with the Commander to discuss letting his cousin join the crew," EDI informed.

Shepard pinched to bridge of his nose. "Thank you, EDI."

"Well ETA, is about 2 hours." Joker smirked. "Your cousin, hmm?"

Shepard nodded. "Yeah… my little cousin-"

"Ouch, those are always the worst," Joker added sarcastically.

Shepard rolled his eyes and smiled. "Not by much, just four years… anyway, she just got bumped up to Lieutenant. Mother's on shore leave, and decided to set up this little meeting."

Joker's smirk grew. "_She?"_

"Joker, don't start."

* * *

"Ah, the garden world of Illium," Marissa said smiling as she looked over the balcony. "This really is one of my Favorite places. I think I just might retire here."

"That's… nice aunty but, why are you even bothering with him?" Chloe asked. "He won't even let me _look _at his precious ship."

"Chloe," Marissa scolded. "You're not a child anymore, do not call me 'aunty'. And as for John, I'm sure that he'll see how mature you've gotten, and he'll let you join the crew."

Chloe sat down at the table and began to pick at her nails. "You know he's been preparing to take on the _Reapers, _right? He doesn't need his annoying baby cousin bugging him."

"You are _not _little anymore." Marissa let out a heavy sigh. "Honey, I love you… but you are damn near impossible sometimes."

Chloe shrugged. "I know… sorry."

"There are my girls!" Shepard shouted happily. "How've you been?" He walked over to their table and sat down. "I haven't seen you guys in forever."

"There's my boy," Marissa greeted cheerfully. "So good to see you!"

"Hey cousin," Chloe added without facing him. She just continued to pick at her nails.

"Uh, Chloe," Marissa said. "Why don't you go see if any of the stores are having sales?"

Chloe sighed and got up. "Alright…" She walked over to the nearest store. She looked back at the table. "Humph, say I'm 'not a little girl anymore', then you go treat me like a kid," she muttered.

Once Chloe was out of the hearing radius, Marissa turned to face her son. "John. I know I'm asking a lot from you… but please, ever since you uncle… passed on, she's been, somewhat depressed."

Shepard exhaled. "Mother, you know I'm preparing for a _suicide _mission, right."

Marissa closed her eyes and nodded. "Yes son, I'm very aware. The Illusive Man contacted me… Why he'd bother to make contact with an Alliance Official, I'm not sure. But I was just happy to know that my baby was still alive. As for the mission… hell, I've been on three 'suicide missions', and look: I'm still here."

Shepard slumped back in his chair, contemplating. "It's not the same…"

"She wants to go with you, you know," Marissa continued. "She said so herself. But, because of the last time you two were aboard a ship together, she didn't think you'd even consider this."

He remained silent, mulling over the decision.

Marissa sighed. Chloe hated her current situation, withier it was the crew, or the 'lousy mission's' (Chloe's words), no matter what, Chloe was absolutely miserable. But she figured Chloe's real problem was that she was serving aboard the same ship her father served on. It'd been nearly five years, and Chloe still hadn't gotten over his death. And, Marissa knew there was nothing she could do to change that.

After a few minutes, Shepard sat up in his seat. "Fine."

Marissa grinned widely. "Thank you, John! You don't know how much this means to her."

"Yeah, yeah." He leaned over the table and kissed his mother on the forehead. "Look mom, I've got to go. And… I guess I'm taking her with me."

She smiled. "Thank you, again John."

Shepard got up and started to walk away. He turned to face her once more. "Oh, and take it easy mom, after all you _are _retiring soon."

She just smiled and waved. "Bye, son."

Shepard made his way over to Chloe, who was examining some merchandise.

"Hey Chloe," He said casually. He noticed she had a model ship in her hand, it was an Alliance Cruiser. _It looks like the same one she- wait, don't start with that, it's far behind us._

Chloe looked at him. "What? Is the 'Grown up talk' over now?" She asked as she put the ship replica down.

Shepard smirked. "Is that anyway to talk to your Commanding Officer?"

Chloe's face light up like the Sun. "Really? You're actually going to let me come?"

Shepard nodded. "Come on, let's get back to the _Normandy_, I'll give you a tour."

Chloe felt like a giddy little school girl. She looked over her shoulder at Melissa. "Bye Aunty!"

* * *

**I know this chapter is a little slow... **

**But the next chapter will be better.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note- **Sorry this took so long... Oh! And by the way, if you haven't noticed already, I'm and amateur wrighter. So, any constructive criticisim would be welcome.

* * *

**Chapter 2**

"And this is the Bridge," Shepard concluded at the end of his tour. "So, you like the ship?"

Chloe looked around nodding. "It's nice, I guess…"

Shepard smirked. "I think that's the nicest thing you've said since you've been here." He put his hands on his hips. "Look, I'm going down to Engineering, you can go ahead and meet the helmsman." He pointed toward Joker. He had a feeling she'd want to meet the guy who piloted the ship.

"Okay." She saluted him as she beamed. "Commander."

After Shepard left, she looked around a little more. A few of the crew members gave her odd looks as she dawdled around the Combat Information Center, but eventually they just pay no attention to her and went back to work. She also talked to the Yeoman, Kelly Chambers. Actually, Kelly had addressed _her _first. After reluctantly sitting through a lengthy however dull chat about Kelly's role aboard the ship, Chloe finally decided to meet the helmsman. She figured it would be best if she'd gotten out of the conversation before Kelly changed the subject onto Chloe.

Joker was busy doing something so he didn't really notice Chloe walk up behind him.

"Hi," She said casually. Even so, her greeting was high-pitched and abrupt enough to startle him. He made some kind of inaudible, surprised noise that sounded like a combination of 'shit!' and 'Ah!'

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," Chloe said innocently.

Joker turned around and was nearly stunned to see one of the most beautiful girls he'd ever seen standing over him. "I, uh," He started. "I wasn't scared, I have… allergies…" He faked a cough.

Chloe giggled. "Yeah sure," She stuck her hand out. "My name's Chloe."

He shook it. "Jeff, but everybody calls me Joker."

Chloe smiled. "Alright then, I will also call you Joker." The name seemed familiar to her. _Joker… Joker, where have I heard that before? "_So, you're the helmsman?" She asked, looking around his workplace.

Joker smirked. "Yeah, the best in the galaxy."

_That cockiness… _Suddenly it clicked in Chloe's brain. "Oh! I remember you!"

Joker titled his head and gave her a perplexed stare. "You… do?"

"Yeah," Chloe continued, suddenly very excited. "We had the same flight school instructor!"

"Really?"

"Mm hmm, I was going to be a pilot too!" She looked down at her feet. "Until… I realized I can't… fly." She chuckled to herself. "You remember that test, where we had to fly a commercial starship… full of actual passengers?"

Joker nodded. "Aced it, why?"

Chloe sighed slightly. "Well, mine ended a little something like this:" She made her hand into a fist and spoke into it like a radio. "Attention passengers, I've got some good news, and bad news… the good news is: We'll be landing immediately, the bad news… it's a crash landing."

Joker winced. "Harsh…"

Chloe nodded. "Safe to say… I flunk out of flight school. I was only there for maybe four or five months, so I don't blame you if you don't remember me…"

Joker chuckled. "Hold on a sec… I remember someone crashing a commercial starship on Neith, in the Eagle Nebula… that was _you_?"

Chloe nodded again. She was about to say something else, but she was interrupted by Kelly Chambers. "Lieutenant Shepard, the Commander would like to speak with you down in Engineering."

"Alright Kelly, thanks." She turned back to Joker. "I've got to go. See you 'round."

Joker watched her strawberry blonde hair sway as she swaggered toward the elevator. _Shepard? Holy crap! _She _is the commander's cousin? She's kind of hot… _He shook his head, disagreeing with himself. _Don't even think about it, she's the commander's frickin' cousin!_

Joker sighed as he returned to his duties.

* * *

Chloe walked into the engineering room. She noticed Shepard was in the middle of a conversation with a Quarian, so she didn't interrupt them. Eventually, Shepard noticed Chloe awkwardly standing in the doorway. He motioned for her to join them.

"Hey," Said Chloe, "Chambers said you needed me?"

Shepard smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I want you to meet our tech expert, Tali'Zorah."

Tali nodded to Chloe. "Just Tali is okay."

"I thought since you were so good with ships," Shepard continued. "You and Tali could work together down here in engineering."

Chloe shrugged. "Sounds good." Chloe stuck her hand out, and Tali shook it. "I can't wait to start working with you."

As Shepard left to tend to some other duties, Tali turned to a computer. "Shepard told me you know a lot when it comes to engineering."

Chloe leaned against a wall. "I know a lot when it comes to _ships_," She corrected. "I blame my father, he was the helmsman of the ship I used to serve on. He taught me everything he knew. That man loved ships…"

Tali nodded. "I see… my father is similar, he's obsessed with technologies. So he taught me about them." She paused for a second. "You said he 'was' a helmsman?"

Chloe picked up the data pad that was next to her and looked over it. "Yeah…" She sighed. "He died about five years ago…" she set the data pad down. "Well," she said blissfully, before Tali had a chance to say anything involving her father and his death. "I'm gonna go do some calibrations and what not. I'll give you a report when I'm done."

Tali turned to Chloe and watched her as she walked away. "Alright Chloe…" She said, a bit confused about how Chloe's mood completely changed. "You… go do that."

"I hope you don't mind obnoxious singing!" Chloe called from the other room.

Tali nodded and went back to work. "Wait! What..?"

* * *

"Joker, I need you to set a course for the Citadel," Shepard stated. "Did you meet Chloe yet?"

"Right away Commander." Joker nodded. "And yeah, I met her. We ended up talking for a few minutes. She said she wanted to be a pilot too, but she flunked out."

"Yeah," Shepard started. "She wanted to be just like my uncle… he was a good man, and a damn good Helmsman. But she was never really good at flying." He leaned on the wall beside Joker. "She almost got us killed once… but I won't get into details, I promised my mom I'd let it go."

Joker raised his eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yeah," Shepard got off the wall. "But like I said: I promised mom I'd let it go. Apparently Chloe still feels really bad about it, so don't tell her I mentioned it to you."

Joker snickered. "Okay, Commander."

Shepard began to walk away. "I mean it, Joker. Not _one _word."

Joker put his hands up and smirked. "Come on Commander, what kind of guy do you take me for?"

* * *

**Thanks for readin'!**

**Please leave reviews 'n stuff!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Joker sat down at the far end of the table, away from everyone else. He wasn't really a people person. He also hated being away from the bridge for too long, so he normally ate pretty quickly. But, when Chloe entered the Mess Hall, he slowed down slightly. She noticed him and smiled at him as she past. She made her way over to Gardner, and asked him to make her something to eat.

While Joker watched her chat with the cook, Garrus took a seat next to Joker and smirked. "Have you met the Lieutenant yet?"

Joker was startled by Garrus, but it didn't show. "Uh, yeah," He responded, not taking his eyes of her.

"You think she's pretty, don't you?"

Joker turned to him. "What? No… she's the Commanders _cousin_."

Garrus chuckled. "That doesn't change anything. Admit it, you're attracted. Hell, she's not even my species and _I'm _attracted."

Joker rolled his eyes. "Well, then why don't _you _go after her?"

Garrus smirked at him. "Are you kidding? Shepard would kill me." He readjusted in his seat. "She's like a sister to him. I don't think he'd let anyone near her. Besides, I think you'd have better chances. And I've seen how you've been watching her."

"Is it obvious?" Joker asked worriedly. The last thing he needed was to be caught checking-out the Commander's little cousin.

Garrus shrugged. "You eyes were glued to her ever since she walked through the door," He stated matter-of-factly. "But… so have the eyes of every _other _male crew member in the room."

Joker looked around and saw that Garrus was right. Every other man in the room _was _staring… primarily at her lower back. Joker rolled his eyes; at least he was looking at her face, not checking out her ass.

Joker continued to eat his food when Jacob sat down across from him. Garrus greeted him. Jacob glanced over at Chloe then looked back at them. "Have you two met the new Shepard?"

Garrus nodded, "Yeah, I'm assuming you have too?"

Jacob crossed his arms. " The Commander took her with him when he made his rounds. You know, showing her the ship and what not. She seems pretty cool." Jacob smirked. "When she walked into the armory she nearly flipped. She told me she'd never been in a room with so many 'neat' guns before."

Garrus chuckled. "Is that right?"

"Can I eat in peace, please?" Joker asked. But, he was ignored.

Jacob continued. "Yeah, she said that the Alliance wouldn't trust her with a room full of guns, unsupervised."

As Jacob finished talking, Miranda parked herself beside him. "Have any of you spoken to the Lieutenant at all?" She asked.

Joker sighed. "Why does everyone keep asking this?"

She ignored his response. "I don't like her. She seems way too… _happy_."

"Am I invisible..?" Joker inquired, receiving no reply.

Garrus scoffed. "You don't like her because she's a 'happy' person..?"

Miranda rolled her eyes. "It just seems suspicious… how she acts compared to what I read in her personal file just doesn't add up, I don't trust her… I was against Commander Shepard about having her on board in the first place!"

Jacob smirked. "That's because you're against everything the Commander does."

Joker sat up. "Wait, you went through her personal file?"

Miranda looked at him. "It's my job to know about the crew. Medical records, histories, anything that could improve or inconvenience the mission. Something about her just doesn't add up."

"But that stuff is _personal_, that's why it's called a 'personal file'," Joker continued.

Miranda rolled her eyes at him. "And I have access to them." She took a sip of her drink.

Garrus shifted. "So… uh… what'd it say about her?"

Joker gave him that are-you-kidding-me look. "It's none of our business." But still, he was also curious.

Miranda shrugged. "Only child, failed as a pilot, served in the Alliance since she was 19, Became a lieutenant just four months ago, Father was a helmsman, and so on. It also said she had a nasty temper and very bad anxiety."

"I also have excellent aim with a sniper-rifle," Chloe added, as she stood behind them holding her tray. "And I can be pretty ruthless with my biotic abilities." She looked around at them, each had a surprised expression. "What?" She asked. "You didn't notice me walk up? Or were you all just too absorbed in your conversation?"

She set her food down on the table. "Next time you wanna know something about me, just ask. Alright?"

As she sat down, Miranda and Jacob stood. Jacob apologized about his nosiness, but Miranda just went back to her office, without a word. Jacob also left the Mess Hall.

After Miranda left, Chloe shifted to the seat across from Joker. She looked at him as well as Garrus then smirked. "Man… I feel like a new toy at pre-school: everyone wants a piece of me."

Garrus chuckled. "You seem to be getting along with everyone well."

Chloe smirked. "Despite what that file says, I'm a pleasant person."

"You really have anxiety?" Joker asked.

Chloe nodded. "It's actually separation anxiety, but it's not serious. I've been getting better about it. And it does _not _affect my performance in combat or on missions." She made sure that last part was perfectly clear.

Garrus stood. "I should really get back to the Main Battery. See you two later." And with that, he left.

Chloe watched him walk away. "Just you and me now Joker."

He shifted a bit timidly. "Uh, yeah. I guess so."

"Hey," Chloe started. "Do you think that… you could let my drive sometime..?"

Joker raised his eyebrow. "What? You… want to 'drive'… The _ship_?"

She nodded.

Joker thought for a second. Shepard probably wouldn't like that… He even mentioned she was a bad pilot. No…" He said a bit hesitantly.

She tilted her head. "Please?" She asked batting her eyelashes.

_Is she..? Yeah, she's trying to manipulate me. _Joker leaned back. "Sorry but, the _Normandy _is _my _baby," He said a little more assertively.

Chloe looked down at the table. "Oh, Okay…" She looked back up at him with her sad, jade colored puppy dog eyes.

_Damn, she's good. But I'm not giving in _that _easily._

* * *

**I apologize for not updating for sooo long.**

**I know I'd be a little ticked if I had to wait a long time for a story to update...**

**But here's chapter 3 for you, I hope you enjoyed it.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter IV**

Omega. The most disgusting, hub of criminal activity Chloe had ever seen. She stood a few feet behind Shepard while he siphoned Aria for information. Chloe looked around the club, incredibly bored. She began to hum an old song rather loud and obnoxiously, figuring that the music in the club was earsplitting already so no one would here her.

Then she heard the slightest sound of snickering in her ear.

Chloe stopped immediately. She'd forgotten about the direct line from her earpiece to the Normandy. To the Pilot in particular.

"Why'd you stop?"

Chloe rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Shut up, Joker."

"What?" He asked, laughing a bit. "Did you fail to remember that I can hear everything you, and the squad say?"

"… No."

"Lies!" Joker cried dramatically.

Chloe giggled slightly. She'd only been working with Shepard aboard the Normandy for a week now, but she loved every minute of it. The crew especially. She liked working with Tali, Garrus, and Kasumi the most. And when she was off-duty, she enjoyed hanging around the cockpit and fooling around with Joker.

As they were exchanging anecdotes with each other, Kasumi interrupted them. "Okay you two, you're not the only ones who are on this particular channel."

"I'm sorry Kasumi," Chloe apologized.

"I'm not," Joker said rather candidly.

Garrus approached them. "Alright you three, enough," He said. "We actually have work to be doing."

"Oh yay," Said Chloe," Where are we of to, then?"

"According to Aria, The Salarian Scientist is currently operating a clinic in the slums," Shepard told Chloe, Garrus, and Kasumi. "But it appears that the slums are under quarantine in order to stop a plague from spreading."

"Plague, huh?" Chloe asked. "So, we're risking our lives going in there and getting him?"

"No actually," Shepard continued. "Humans and Vorcha are immune. But, Garrus, you have to head back to the Ship."

"Shepard," Garrus said while placing his hands on his hips. "I'll be fine."

"Garrus," Shepard came back with. "If you get sick and there's no cure, I wouldn't be able to live with myself."

"Alright, alright," Garrus sighed. "I'll go."

As he headed out of the club Shepard carried on with debriefing Chloe and Kasumi. "Okay, now, we have to be careful down there, the slums are presently being overrun by mercs, so be on your guard… And Joker," He was now speaking into his radio, "Stop flirting with my cousin."

There was a pause on the other end of the line and a smirk began to make it's was across Shepard's face. "… That's not funny," Joker finally answered.

"I thought it was," Shepard said innocently.

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Alright, enough, let's go."

* * *

As the conversation on the other side of the line began to die out, Joker returned to what he was previously doing. Which happened to be monitoring the activity outside the ship. He hated being docked in Omega. It made him nervous.

However, while he watched the security monitors, Shepard's little remark began to bug him. Yeah, sure he liked her. He'll confess that… Just, not aloud. But did Shepard know? That was the _last _thing he needed: His Commanding Officer knowing about the little crush he was harboring. Then he began thinking about what would happen if word _did _get out? And because of that _she _found out? He never wanted Chloe to know… ever. He just knew that she would never feel the same way anyway and he felt that it would be best if it was kept secret. He was happy to at least be her friend.

"Joker," Kelly asked from behind him. "Are you okay? You seem a little uneasy."

Joker rolled his eyes slightly. He knew Kelly had good intentions but the whole 'unofficial psychologist' thing kind of bothered him. Especially when her focus was on him. "Yes, I'm fine Kelly."

"Is it about Shepard's remark about you and Chloe?" She persisted.

Joker turned around in his chair and was now facing her. "How long have you even been there?" He asked with slight annoyance in his voice.

Kelly grinned. "I'll take that as a yes."

"Don't you have anything else to do?" He inquired, turning back around. "Like… anything at all? Other than this?"

Kelly crossed her arms and leaned on the wall. "Well… no not really. Since we'll be docked here for a while, most of the crew is out either getting supplies and equipment or just hanging around Omega."

"_You're_ still here," Joker stated.

"And so are you. Why don't you go out?"

Joker turned his head back to her and gave her a look. "I can't. I actually have things to do up here, y'know. I have… responsibilities."

"Oh yes… watching the exterior security cameras," Kelly uttered as she looked around the cockpit.

"Hey," Joker retorted. "You can't trust the people on Omega."

Just as Kelly was about to respond, the sound of gunfire began to sound over the radio. "What's going on?" Kelly asked instead.

"Looks like they found the mercs," Joker muttered to himself, unintentionally answering her question. "Hey Commander," Joker asked over the radio when he heard the firing end. "Are you guys alright?"

* * *

"Yeah," Shepard responded. "Yeah, we're fine. We just had a run in with the Blood Pack. Hey, while I have you here," He continued. "Can you tell me if Garrus made it back to the ship yet?"

"Well, he hasn't come back yet," Joker answered, "But don't worry, I'll keep an eye out for him."

"Thanks Joker," Shepard said. "C'mon girls," He was now speaking to Kasumi and Chloe, "Let's keep moving."

Chloe looked down at her Tempest SMG, a little 'gift' from Hock when she and Kasumi snuck into his mansion and stole back Kaiji's grey box. She let out a deep breath and continued onward toward the clinic. Power to the particular part of the slums they were in had been cut off. The only light came from the red emergency lights on the sides of the walls. The ominous, crimson glow made her feel uneasy. She shook the feeling and carried on while Shepard and Kasumi lead.

As they carried on toward the clinic two more ambushes attempted to slaughter them. Joker tried to keep an eye on Chloe through Commander Shepard's helmet CAM to make sure she was unharmed.

Eventually they made it safely to the sanctuary of Mordin Solus's clinic.


End file.
